How I Live Now was written by Meg Rosoff and published in 2004. It also won the Michael L. Printz Award. This book takes place in several villages in England, Reston Bridge and Kingly to name a couple, in the wilderness behind these villages, and for a short period, in New York City. This book tells the story of how the main character, Daisy, and her cousins survive a world war which takes place in the foreseeable future. This book is comprised of two parts, the first part focuses on Daisy and her cousin's lives right before the war, and for the duration of England's occupation and her stay in England. However, the second part of the novel is centered on her time in New York for the remainder of the war, and her return to England and her cousins.
About the Author
Meg Rosoff was born in Boston in 1956. She Studied at Harvard for three years before moving to England to study sculpture at Saint Martins College of Art. She later returned to the United States, more specifically to New York, and worked in publishing and advertising, from 1980 to 1989. In 1989, Rosoff moved back to England, where she has remained for the past 21 years. She lives there with her husband and daughter, and has authored quite a few books and novels. Some of her titles are Meet Wild Boars (2005), Just in Case (2006), What I Was (2007), The Bride's Farewell (2009), Vamoose (2010), and There is No Dog (2010). Critics have a variety of perspectives on her writing. Some say she is "wonderful, captivating author" while others have said she is "no sissy".
Characters and Conflict
How I Live Now tells the story of Daisy, a fifteen year old native New Yorker who is sent off to England to live with her cousins. When she arrives at the airport in England, she is surprised to find her fourteen year old cousin, Edmond, whom she had never met before, there to pick her up. They drive to a quaint old farmhouse where she is introduced to Piper, Isaac, and Osbert, Edmond's siblings. She becomes fast friends with Piper, Isaac, and Edmond, especially Edmond, and the two fall in love. Something they know is wrong, but were unable to prevent themselves from doing. Daisy only gets to see her aunt briefly before she leaves for a business trip. Several days after her aunt's departure, a bomb goes off in a train station near London, and the children learn that the country has been occupied. Daisy's aunt is unable to return home, as all transportation has been stopped, and the children spend several months without acknowledgement. After the third month of living by themselves, they are visited by a man who tells them that the five of them will be separated. Daisy and Piper are sent away first, and are brought to army family's home in Reston Bridge. Through great questioning of her host family, Daisy is able to decipher the whereabouts of Isaac and Edmond. Daisy and Piper see the first effects of the war when they are forced to hide in a barn for several days due to a series of attacks. Once the conflict reaches them, Daisy and Piper are able to escape with the help of a friendly soldier, who ushers them into the wilderness and points them in the direction to Kingly, where Isaac and Edmond had been taken, and they set off. Finally, they arrive at Kingly, but only to find that Isaac and Edmond are not there. They are able to return to the little farmhouse and the peace it gave them relatively quickly, despite their emaciation. They stay there for several days, just waiting, and hoping, for the return of Edmond and Isaac. One day, they hear the telephone ring, and amazed at the fact that there is electricity, answer it. At this point the book turns into part two, which occurs six years later. In part two, Daisy tells the reader that her father was the one calling, and summarizes her return to New York and the end of the war. She then travels back to England, and the farmhouse and her cousins. That is how she lives now.Meg Rosoff 2006 Teen Book Video Ward Winner
Theme
In How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff show the theme that the sincerity of youth remains unwavering through difficult times.
Review
Meg Rosoff's novel, How I Live Now, is a captivating piece that you will not be able to put down! It tells the compelling story of how a teenage girl and her younger cousins survive through wartime and the occupation of their country. How I Live Now is written in a stream of consciousness style which really makes you feel as though you are experiencing all of it along with the protagonist. This bittersweet story of love and survival will have you hooked! You will be amazed at the will people can acquire when necessary, especially that of the main character, Daisy, whose determination to live is founded solely on the hope that she will find her loved ones again. But, you will have to read it to find out if she does!
Analysis of Style
Rosoff utilizes a stream of consciousness and direct style of writing to make the reader feel as though he or she is in a conversation with the protagonist. This novel portrays a style of writing that creates a connection between the reader and the narrator, "The story is directly told from the point of view of Daisy in such a way that you feel she is sitting right there across from you," (McAndrew). Rosoff writes so the narration of the book, by Daisy, is composed of the thoughts entering and leaving Daisy's head. These thoughts let the reader see through the eyes of the protagonist, and understand her perspective, almost as though the reader is talking with Daisy, for example, "Of course everyone was talking about food shortages and shutting down transportation and calling up all the able-bodied men and basically all the Gloom and Doom stuff they could possibly think up in the limited time allotted, and the guys on the radio were talking solemn voices asking anyone they could drag off the street Wether This Meant War and then we had to listen to all the solemn experts pretending to have the inside track when any one of them would have given is left arm to know the game plan himself," (Rosoff, 25).
How I Live Now
Meg Rosoff
Project by: Christina Boyd
About the Book
How I Live Now was written by Meg Rosoff and published in 2004. It also won the Michael L. Printz Award. This book takes place in several villages in England, Reston Bridge and Kingly to name a couple, in the wilderness behind these villages, and for a short period, in New York City. This book tells the story of how the main character, Daisy, and her cousins survive a world war which takes place in the foreseeable future. This book is comprised of two parts, the first part focuses on Daisy and her cousin's lives right before the war, and for the duration of England's occupation and her stay in England. However, the second part of the novel is centered on her time in New York for the remainder of the war, and her return to England and her cousins.
About the Author
Meg Rosoff was born in Boston in 1956. She Studied at Harvard for three years before moving to England to study sculpture at Saint Martins College of Art. She later returned to the United States, more specifically to New York, and worked in publishing and advertising, from 1980 to 1989. In 1989, Rosoff moved back to England, where she has remained for the past 21 years. She lives there with her husband and daughter, and has authored quite a few books and novels. Some of her titles are Meet Wild Boars (2005), Just in Case (2006), What I Was (2007), The Bride's Farewell (2009), Vamoose (2010), and There is No Dog (2010). Critics have a variety of perspectives on her writing. Some say she is "wonderful, captivating author" while others have said she is "no sissy".
Characters and Conflict
How I Live Now tells the story of Daisy, a fifteen year old native New Yorker who is sent off to England to live with her cousins. When she arrives at the airport in England, she is surprised to find her fourteen year old cousin, Edmond, whom she had never met before, there to pick her up. They drive to a quaint old farmhouse where she is introduced to Piper, Isaac, and Osbert, Edmond's siblings. She becomes fast friends with Piper, Isaac, and Edmond, especially Edmond, and the two fall in love. Something they know is wrong, but were unable to prevent themselves from doing. Daisy only gets to see her aunt briefly before she leaves for a business trip. Several days after her aunt's departure, a bomb goes off in a train station near London, and the children learn that the country has been occupied. Daisy's aunt is unable to return home, as all transportation has been stopped, and the children spend several months without acknowledgement. After the third month of living by themselves, they are visited by a man who tells them that the five of them will be separated. Daisy and Piper are sent away first, and are brought to army family's home in Reston Bridge. Through great questioning of her host family, Daisy is able to decipher the whereabouts of Isaac and Edmond. Daisy and Piper see the first effects of the war when they are forced to hide in a barn for several days due to a series of attacks. Once the conflict reaches them, Daisy and Piper are able to escape with the help of a friendly soldier, who ushers them into the wilderness and points them in the direction to Kingly, where Isaac and Edmond had been taken, and they set off. Finally, they arrive at Kingly, but only to find that Isaac and Edmond are not there. They are able to return to the little farmhouse and the peace it gave them relatively quickly, despite their emaciation. They stay there for several days, just waiting, and hoping, for the return of Edmond and Isaac. One day, they hear the telephone ring, and amazed at the fact that there is electricity, answer it. At this point the book turns into part two, which occurs six years later. In part two, Daisy tells the reader that her father was the one calling, and summarizes her return to New York and the end of the war. She then travels back to England, and the farmhouse and her cousins. That is how she lives now.Meg Rosoff 2006 Teen Book Video Ward Winner
Theme
In How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff show the theme that the sincerity of youth remains unwavering through difficult times.
Review
Meg Rosoff's novel, How I Live Now, is a captivating piece that you will not be able to put down! It tells the compelling story of how a teenage girl and her younger cousins survive through wartime and the occupation of their country. How I Live Now is written in a stream of consciousness style which really makes you feel as though you are experiencing all of it along with the protagonist. This bittersweet story of love and survival will have you hooked! You will be amazed at the will people can acquire when necessary, especially that of the main character, Daisy, whose determination to live is founded solely on the hope that she will find her loved ones again. But, you will have to read it to find out if she does!
Analysis of Style
Rosoff utilizes a stream of consciousness and direct style of writing to make the reader feel as though he or she is in a conversation with the protagonist. This novel portrays a style of writing that creates a connection between the reader and the narrator, "The story is directly told from the point of view of Daisy in such a way that you feel she is sitting right there across from you," (McAndrew). Rosoff writes so the narration of the book, by Daisy, is composed of the thoughts entering and leaving Daisy's head. These thoughts let the reader see through the eyes of the protagonist, and understand her perspective, almost as though the reader is talking with Daisy, for example, "Of course everyone was talking about food shortages and shutting down transportation and calling up all the able-bodied men and basically all the Gloom and Doom stuff they could possibly think up in the limited time allotted, and the guys on the radio were talking solemn voices asking anyone they could drag off the street Wether This Meant War and then we had to listen to all the solemn experts pretending to have the inside track when any one of them would have given is left arm to know the game plan himself," (Rosoff, 25).
Works Cited
Rosoff, Meg. How I Live Now. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2004. Print.McAndrews, Laura. "How I Live Now." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 48,6 (2005):528. Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA130777272&v=2.1&u=nazhs&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w